Cleaning the pump strainer basket

Jump to latest Follow Reply
C

creechy

0
Oct 14, 2009
125
In order to clean the pump strainer basket. The instructions tell me to relieve pressure in the system prior to removing the lid. How do I relieve the pressure? I have a Hayward sand filter and a Pentair SuperFlo pump.

Thanks for your help!!

Dory
 
I have an above-ground pool where all the plumbing is visible and accessible. To empty the pump basket I first turn off the pump, then close the valves to and from the pool. IOW, I isolate the pump and filter. I the remove the lid which can be a touch job in itself. If it has really formed a tight seal with the basket I sometimes have to use a 2x4 to push through the handle on the lid and use as a lever.

I think–but don't know for sure–that turning off the pump and giving the system a little while to drain by gravity relieves the pressure. I have to close the valves because my pump sits lower than the drains on the pool; leaving them open causes serious amounts of water to shoot out the pump basket once I get the lid off. Learned that by doing :)
 
creechy said:
Thank you for the help!! Do you add water to the basket to prime before turning the pump back on?
Click to expand...
It helps but a self-priming pump that is not too far above the pool's water level shouldn't have a problem. I open the relief valve at the main filter until the air is released from it and the bubbles almost disappear from the see-thru pump filter basket.

If you notice that it takes 20, 30, 40 seconds or more priming, you should help it along by priming it with a bucket of water or a hose before sealing the basket lid.
 

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
Yes, it does, which is why I prefaced my advice with the caveat that it's for an AGP. In reading through the replies to date it does appear that we've heard from IGP and AGP owners as evidenced by the information in the sig blocks, good input from everyone, and Dory should be able to select the method(s) most appropriate to her/his system.

Dory, when you have a chance you might want to include specifics about your pool setup in your signature block. You can do that via the User Control Panel, the link to which is in the upper right of the page under the TFP logo. Knowing those details helps us better tailor our advice.
 
Any time that you open the circulation system air will enter and the water will drain to the lowest point. If you have an in-ground pool with equipment located higher then the water level, that can mean that water might flow backward(depending on where the opening is), taking debris/DE from your filter back into the pool.

To prevent that, and to keep the system as full as possible to cut down on pump prime time, close the suction, multi-port and/or discharge valves after you turn the pump off, and before you open the system. Make sure to open the valves just prior to starting the pump, and if you can suction from a skimmer only, it will prime faster then a main drain.

If your system still drains with the valves closed, then you've just identified that you have an air in leak (and a possible water out leak,) or a leaking valve that does not seal( a bad multi-port gasket?)

Above ground pools usually have "flooded" pumps (the water level is above the pump,) and if you don't close the suction and return valves, the pool will drain down to the lowest suction/return level. Gravity will prime the pump/system as soon as the valves are opened.
 
Thanks so much for all the help!! I have an inground, fiberglass, SWG pool. We heat the pool with a gas heater. It was installed in August. I am very new to all of this. I will add all of my specific pool information to my signature in the next few days. I will need to pull out my manuals.

Thanks again!!

Dory
 
New2Me said:
.... If you have an in-ground pool with equipment located higher then the water level, that can mean that water might flow backward(depending on where the opening is), taking debris/DE from your filter back into the pool.

To prevent that, and to keep the system as full as possible to cut down on pump prime time, close the suction, multi-port and/or discharge valves after you turn the pump off, and before you open the system. .......
Click to expand...

That makes sense & explains what I have seen occasionally in the past ( I think).

"close the suction, multi-port and/or discharge valves".
Can you elaborate? Move the MPV to what position? My MPV does have a "Closed" position.

Do most of you moderators do this? I'd rather not do this extra step if most of you think its unnecessary (lazy).
 
Johnny B said:
That makes sense & explains what I have seen occasionally in the past ( I think). "close the suction, multi-port and/or discharge valves".
Click to expand...
It makes sense if you can do that... I have no valve that can be closed between pump and suction (skimmer/main drain) so this would be non-applicable to those who have a system plumbed as mine is.
 
Simply turning off the pump should never allow water or DE to flow out of the filter. If it does you have a leak somewhere that should be fixed.

If you are also opening up the plumbing at some point in the system after the filter, for example to inspect or clean the SWG cell, and you have a DE filter (not an issue with a sand or cartridge filter) you may need to close the multi-port or set it to bypass the filter, to prevent DE from being washed back into the pool. It is not common for DE to be washed all the way into the pool, usually only a little DE goes into the plumbing, and that gets pushed back into the filter the next time the pump is turned on.
 
I always close my suction and MPV valves to "isolate" water where it is. I have failed to do so on occasion, and had debris plug the discharge of my Hayward off-line chlorinator, watched it gurgle back out of the strainer pot basket and back towards the skimmer/drain, or forward into the pump itself. With the valves shut everything stays in the pot, and if it does fall out of the basket, I have a little fish net that I scoop it out with. That way I don't worry about things getting past the strainer and damaging the impeller or MPV.
If you don't close the valves, and the system does drain, it takes a while for the pump to prime - even if you fill the pot with a hose - time that could lead to premature failure of the pump shaft seal. I figure that the time it takes to close/open the valves a couple of times a month is still less then replacing the seal one year earlier. Plus, valves are designed to be operated, if you never stroke them, why have them?
 
My landlord left and the new landlord has not come to service the pool. Old landlord let it rot for a month before he left. It's been a month since then. I'm trying to clean/service but don't understand the pipes. I need to know how to relieve the pressure, or isolate the filter stack from the filter basket, so I can clean one and both without accidentally draining the pool.

http://ow.ly/i/1U8P4

Assume: The dimensions of the photo correspond to a compass. Top=North.

Southwest red lever is the water IN as it heads to the pool and filer basket assembly.
Southeast drains water from the filter, presumably if I want to drain the whole pool.
The two north ones... I don't know where they go. Probably to the pool but I don't know why there are two of them.
There is also a red level behind the filter stack (the tall black thing) that attaches to that northmost horizontal pipe.

I need to know what to turn in order halt water going to the filter basket (the short black assembly) so I can take it out and clean months of muck out of it.

On top of the filter stack is a PSI meter. It read 30 when I started and now reads 20 since I've accidentally relieved pressure while unscrewing the filter basket and lettering it drain momentarily.



I have put a gallon of muriatic acid in, as advised by the local pool place do to the pool's current status as a swamp and biohazard. However I don't want to move onto the chlorinate/shock stage until I know I can clean the filter/baskets.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Thread Status
Hello , This thread has been inactive for over 60 days. New postings here are unlikely to be seen or responded to by other members. For better visibility, consider Starting A New Thread.
Top Bottom
Back
Jump to latest Follow Reply